The Collision
by esswhy
Summary: Here is my first T.P fic! Yea! :) I've finished it! Dumb ending. Oh well. Sandry and Briar at last.....
1. A rough ride

I don't own anything here that belongs even vaguely to Tamora Pierce.   
The Collision  
Chapter 1~A rough ride   
Sandry sat down in a bench in one of the many ships her great uncle, Duke Vedris owned. Duke Vedris had just died, leaving Sandry to become the ruler of Emelan. I'm too young to   
to be a ruler, she thought. Briar came and sat down next to her.   
"Thinking about him?" he asked softly.   
She nodded and tears ran down her face. She was sad but also a little puzzled.  
This past week, Briar had been more sympathetic to her than his usual rough-and-tumble   
ways. "But I don't want to be a ruler," Sandry yelled inside. "I want to stay a mage!" But   
she kept her feelings inside her. It was her duty to look after Emelan and her uncle's wish for her to take up the position when he died.   
"Do you really want to be a ruler?" Briar asked after awhile.   
She looked up, surprised at how easily he picked up her thoughts. "No," she admitted softly. "But it was my uncle's desire."   
"Why can't they pick someone else? Isn't there anyone closer in relative to him?"   
Sandry shook her head. Just then the boat crashed and everyone flew backwards. Briar ins   
tinctively tried to protect Sandry from crashing into the back of the ship but they both   
crashed anyway. "Are you alright?" Briar asked her, offering his hand to help her up.   
"Yeah, I'm fine, but what did we crash into?" Sandry wondered.   
"I don't know, but why don't we find out?". They walked over to where Niko and the Captain   
were talking. "What happened?" Briar asked Niko.   
"We don't know, lad," the sea captain stated. "We just..........hit something," Tris was   
looking out to sea, her eyes closed. Sandry and Briar knew she was probing the sea with her   
magic. They patiently waited for her verdict. At last she opened her eyes."We hit some sort of barrier, a magical one, which i can't get through," her eyes were worried.   
"C'mon, let's get something to eat, I don't mind a little nibble," Briar started to say, when suddenly, a blue bubble surrounded the ship, closing in until they could see no more.   
  
  
So how was that for a first chapter? It's pretty short, I know, but it's just the beginning. I'll try and get Chapter 2 up soon. :) Don't forget to   
review! I love receiving them!   
~~~ Takarimon   
  



	2. In a new world

I don't own anything here that belongs even vaguely to Tamora Pierce   
The Collision   
Chapter 2~In a new world   
Sandry opened her eyes, still a little shaky. She slowly got up. "Where are we?" she asked Briar. "I don't know," he said distractedly. Briar looked around. "Where's Tris 'n' Daja?"   
He wondered.   
"Let's look." So they both searched through the area. Funnily, there was no sign of their ship. Sandry turned around. The familiar swoosh of the sea greeted her. She grabbed Briar's arm. "Look. If the sea is behind us and there is no sign of the ship, we must've been trans-   
ported somewhere else," She said.   
"How is that possible?" Briar wondered. Sandry realised she was still holding onto Briar's   
arm. She blushed. "I don't know. But this place doesn't look familiar," Thy approached the   
nearest port guard. "Excuse me, but.....where are we?" Sandry askd in her noble voice.   
The guard looked vaguely amused. "In Tortall, of course. Under the rule of King Jonathan   
and his queen, Thayet. The only place to have a female Champion--"   
"Whoa. Back up a bit," Briar said. "What is the Champion?"   
The guard chuckled. "You must be really new. The Champion is the chosen knight by the king. The knight must be very good,"   
"Well, do you happen to have mages here?" Sandry asked politely.   
The guard downright laughed. "Mages! My dear we have Master Numair Salmalin, one of the best mages in Tortall, and his, uh, lover, Veralidaine Sarrasri, a Wildmage, connected to animals!"   
"Might you be so kind as to direct us to the palace?" Sandry asked.   
The guard agreed, drawing a map for them to follow. Soon, Sandry and Briar were on their way to the palace of King Jonathan the fourth (or is it third?) of Conte and Queen Thayet.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Okay, that was a pretty short and pretty boring chapter. But Chapter three will be up soon   
with more action, I hope. Please review. This may turn out to a Sandry/Briar romanc. Tll me   
if you want it to be. ~~~Takarimon 


	3. At the Palace

I don't own anything here that belongs even vaguely to Tamora Pierce.   
The Collision  
Chapter 3~At the palace   
At long last, Sandry and Briar arrived at the palace. They approached the guards, hesitantly.  
"Eh! What would ye two younglings want at the King's palace?" One burly guard asked.   
"We were wondering if we could please speak to the king," Sandry asked politely.   
"Ye two mightn' be Sandry fa Toren and Briar Moss, eh?" The same guard asked.   
"Yes, we are. How do you know that?" Briar asked.   
"Them mages, Rosethorn, Lark, Frostpine 'n' that Niko told us 'bout ye two. Said ye'd be here soon enough," The guard shuddered. "That Rosethorn is a scary 'un."   
Briar and Sandry grinned at each other. Wherever they went, they could depend on Rosethorn to be the same. They walked into the palace, suddenly aware how dusty they looked. Just then, Lark came. "Sandry! Briar! We knew you'de make it here!" She said.   
"Everyone is here?" Sandry questioned. Lark nodded. "After the explosion, we landed at the   
front of the palace and found you two were missing. Niko and Frostpine are talking to the   
King now." Just then, a tall man with a dark beard and a long, blue gown came in. He   
wasn't wearing a crown, but authority evaporated from him. "Your Majesty, this is   
Sandrilene fa Toren and Briar Moss. Sandry and Briar, this is King Jonathan of Conte, ruler of Tortall," Lark introduced.   
Sandry dipped into a graceful curtsy. "You seem like you've ben with royalty before," The   
tall man observed  
"My uncle, is-- was Duke Vedris of Emelan, your Majesty. He died a few weeks ago," Sandry   
said.   
"I'm very sorry. Did you know that, a long time ago, my father and mother died too?" King Jonathan said.   
"Really?" Sandry said. "How?"   
And so, Jon proceeded to tell the story about how Duke Roger had concocted the sickness which made Lianne sick and how Alanna had killed him both times. At the end of it, the kids eyes were shining. "Wow. The Lioness must be really brave," Briar said.   
"Well, you want to ----" Just then, a messenger interrrupted the king.   
"Your majesty," he panted. "News from Carthaki," He held out a piece of paper.   
" Your Majesty, King Jonathan IV of Conte,   
The Copper Isles has invaded my country. As we are allies (I think), would you please send your knights and mages to defeat them? SIncerely, Emperor Kadder of Carthaki," King Jonathan read out. "We must assemble immediately. Would you like to stay in my palace until the war is over? After that I will get my mages do transport you back,"   
"Oh, could we help you fight them, please?" Tris begged. King Jonathan looked surprised.   
"You are just mere children," He said.   
"They are mere mage children with extraordinary magic," Niko said.   
"We could be of great use," Sandry said politely.   
The king sighed. "I suppose I could use some extra help. And you four are experienced mages?"he said to Niko, Lark, Rosethorn and Frostpine. They nodded.   
"Well then! Get ready for the trip to Carthaki!"   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
  
Well, actually I can't say that one was that much longer, but I've got some more action! stay tuned for the next chapter, they probably will be fighting.   
~~~Takarimon 


	4. Truelberries

I don't own anything here that even vaguely belongs to Tamora Pierce.   
The Collision   
Chapter 4~ Truelberries   
The four Winding Circle mages boarded the ship with their teachers to Carthaki. Veralidaine   
Sarrasri, soon to be Salmalin, told them the story about how Orzorne was turned into a   
Stormwing. "Here we are," Daine said brightly. "Good 'ole Carthaki," Good 'ole Carthaki   
was barren, yet no troops were about. There were no corpses either. King Jonathan seemed   
just as puzzled. "We will go to Emperor Kadder's palace," he said.   
At the palace, a messenger rushed out to meet them. "Emperor Kadder wishes for you to   
meet him at the dining room. So Jon left his troops outside to guard, while himself, Daine,   
Master Numair, the four Winding Circle mages and their teachers went to the dining room.   
On the table, a feast was laid out for them. Briar reached greedily for some chicken but   
Sandry nudged him. King Jonathan introduced the Winding Circle mages. "Where are the   
Copper Isles people?" Jon asked.   
Kadder sighed. "They are fighting us by the means of secrecy," he said. "Undercover work.   
My men turn up dead everyday but without stab wounds ,"   
"Why are they attacking you?" King Jonathan asked.   
Kadder shook his head. "That is what we are trying to find out. We haven't done anything to   
them nor them to us,"   
"Well, I will place my guards all around Carthaki and the mages will help,"   
So Numair, Sandry, Tris, Daja, Briar, Niko, Rosethorn, Lark, Frostpine and a few other less   
experienced mages got to work. "What we need is some sort of net to catch them in,"   
Numair said.   
"How? We don't know what magic they are using, and whether they are using magic or not,"   
Sandry added.   
"Well, we'll just have to find out," decided Daine. So they decided that the next time there   
was killing, if killing at all, they would try to find out what magic the Copper Isles people   
were using.They got their chance the very next day. Tundah, Kadder's main head servant,   
was killed during the night. The mages inspected the site of the killing.   
"You know, there isn't any blood," Briar observed thoughtfully.   
"Maybe the guards that found Tundah cleaned it up," suggested Tris.   
"No, did you see Tundah's corpse? No stab wounds whatsoever. He was killed with poison,"   
Numair said.   
"He wasn't acting strange after dinner," Niko said.   
"It could have been truelberries," suggested Daine.   
Confusion was written on the Emelan mages' faces.   
"Truelberries are a type of poison that takes a long time to act," explained Numair. "But   
they were only recently discovered by Tortall. Either someone from Tortall has been forced   
to give them truelberries   
or they are stealing it,"   
"What do they look like?" Rosethorn, the plant mage asked.   
"Red and sometimes pink. They can easily be mistaken for cherries," Alanna said.   
Sandry frowned. "I thought I saw cherries on Tundah's plate and I was wondering how   
come a servant got cherries and we didn't," she said.   
"Well, now we know what was used. But how can we use that to trap the killers?" Sandry   
wondered.   
  
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
Well, there is my fourth chapter! The next one will be about them trapping the killers, I   
think. I was hoping to finish it with five chapters but I'll probably go on to 6 or 7. Well,   
review!   
~~~Takarimon


	5. The Killers

I don't own anything that belongs even vaguely to Tamora Pierce.   
The Collision   
Chapter 5~The killers   
"Well, we had better study the truelberries," said Numair. "I'll ask Duke   
Gareth the Elderto send us some information about truelberries,"   
So the next day, a messenger with a book about truelberries came. After   
the midday,the mages had another meeting. "The book says that   
truelberries taste the same as cherries, and.....................they can   
be used to trap the user!" Numair exclaimed. "He   
quickly turned the pages to the chapter. "Whoever has contact with   
truelberries for a long period of time will slowly become part of the   
essence that makes up truelberries.   
Or the truelberries will become a part of them. 'Fighting fire with fire'   
by using truelberry juice or such and the user of the truelberries will slowly be attracted to the juice or pulp.   
Use carefully," Alanna read out aloud.   
"So all we have to do is get some truelberry juice!" Sandry exclaimed triumphantly.   
"There's the question of how," Daine said slowly. "Where will we find truelberries? Kadder   
doesn't have any. "   
"I'll send for some in the fire," Numair promised.   
  
*****************   
Later that night.....................................   
Something was pulling her. She was being drawn to the centre of..............a truelberry!   
"Eat it eat it eat it," a strange voice chanted. She felt her mouth opening by itself.   
"Sandry! Wake up!" Sandry woke up with a start. Tris and Daja were shaking her.   
"What's wrong? You were screaming NO! NOOO! in your sleep," Briar told her.   
She smiled weakly. "Bad dream. I'm okay now. Go back to sleep," But she was too shaken   
to go back to sleep so instead she went outside. It was cool and calming and soon Sandry   
was ready to go back to sleep. But something was keeping her there. She listned carefully.   
Sure enough, there was whispering.   
In Daine and Numair's chamber..............   
Dain crept out of bed, careful not to wake Numair up. Kitten was trilling softly outside. "I'm   
coming, I'm coming," Daine murmured. Once outside, Daine spoke louder. "What is it Kitten?"   
Kitten whistled and led to outsid where the Emelan mags were. A girl was sitting on the   
wall, her head cocked. "Come on." By now Zek was also on her shoulder. "Hey!" Daine   
called to the girl. The girl put her finger to her lips and beckoned for Daine to come closer.   
"I'm Sandry," she said. "If you keep quiet you can hear sombody whispering," Daine shaped   
her ears to the ears of a cat and listened.   
"Hurry up! We don't have all night. Daybreak is in a few hours," somone whispered.   
"I'm coming, I'm coming. But this truelberries are so heavy, Graeme," another man whined.   
"Graeme!" Daine put her hand to her mouth. "Not Graeme of Barony Olau!"   
"Where do you think they are headed for?" Sandry wondered.   
"They are heading for us!" Daine yelped and ducked down behind the wall. Sandry joined her   
"They haven't seen us yet," Sandry whispered.   
"No, their heading for my chamber,"Daine said slowly,"and that must mean that they are   
working for the Copper Isles and they are going to kill Numair!". Daine rushed up and ran for   
her room. Sandry followed.   
"Numair!" Dain cried.   
"What is it?" he mumbled.   
"The killers are coming!"   
"What!?" Numair shot up. "Come on, Daine, we've got to fight."   
"No, wait!". Numair and Daine both turned around. They had forgotten that Sandry was there   
"We can set up a trap instead of having a big war. Then the "war" between Carthaki and   
Copper Isles will be over,"   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
Yeah, yeah, yeah. That wasn't a very good ending. But when I returned to finish this   
chapter, I discovered that I had a temperary writers' block. So.....keep reading.   
~~~Takarimon


	6. The Web

I don't own anything here that belongs, even vaguely to Tamora Pierce.   
The Collision   
Chapter 6~The Web   
"We have to set a trap," Sandry said again, more slowly. "Well, first let's get rid of these   
people." Numair knocked them out and they carried the two people outside.   
"Let's go back to bed now, and tomorrow we will set a trap," Numair decided. They agreed   
and went back to bed.   
The next morning, they were up and about at dawn. Alanna and Numair called a meeting of the mages.   
"Somehow, we are going to have to set a trap,"   
Alanna said.   
"How?" Tris asked.   
"With truelberries," Daine put in simply.   
"Remember what the book said? 'Fight fire with fire'. We'll mash up some truelberries and make a kind of web to trab them in," Sandry suggested. They all agreed on that.   
"But how are we going to make a web with truelberries?" Grithia, one of the apprentice mages asked.   
"I can weave the magical essence of truelberries," Sandry grinned grimly.   
"It will be dangerous," Numair stated, putting his arm around her. "Are you sure?"   
She smiled up at him. "I practically live for danger."   
  
After a quick midday, she took a good cleansing shower, with herbs and spices. As she prepared to weave, Lark brought her aside.   
"Whatever you do, do not drop the web of essence.   
It will fall apart completely," Lark warned. "I won't," Sandry promised.   
"Good," Lark smiled. "You know, you're almost like a daughter to me, if I ever had one,"   
  
Sandry sat down on the floor of a clean room. A small tub of truelberry mush lay waiting for her to weave. She took a deep breath, then drew out her magic with magical hands and began weaving. She weaved and weaved. Long hours went by. As she weaved, the essence attempted to attack her mind. Sandry kept them away with thoughts. Her thinking stopped on Briar. He has been nice to me the past few days, she thought. I guess under all that street rat crap, he has a kind and gentle heart. How sentimental. I think you're going crazy, Sandry scolded herself. Of course she like Briar. They were best friends. SHe shook her head. Somehow, life had become very confusing.   
Somehow, her hands slipped and the web fell. Quickly, almost automatically, her legs flew to catch it and the web fell safely into her lap. Whew. That was close, she thought.   
Finally, it was all complete except for one bit in the web, that had to be done. She looked around for her source of magic and found only one strand left. With all of the force of her mind, she drew it out, forcing it to do her bidding. It was too much for her and then everything was black.   
  
Lark went in to check up on Sandry. Looking at the web, she was delighted to find it finish. Then she looked at Sandry. She was pale and her eyes were closed. Lark put a hand to her neck for a pulse. A faint thump hit her hand. For a second, Sandry opened her eyes.   
"Hello," Lark said weakly. Sandry looked at her and looked right through her. A chill went down Lark's spine. Sandry sighed and slept once more.   
There was a beautiful tree, standing all alone. Sandry ran up to it. Suddenly, she was under it and there were big, fat truelberries raining down on her, eating her up. Sandry sat up, and saw Briar. He's not that bad looking, she realised as she fell down and slept once more. Sandry flitted in between consciousness and dreams. Sometimes, she didn't know which one was real.   
Baird, the palace chief healer visited her one day.   
"I'm afraid she's got Truelberry fever," Baird said.   
"How did she get it?"Lark said calmly.   
"Well, I didn't tell you before, because it's really uncommon," Baird began hesitantly. "But you can only get it if you stay in contact magically with truelberries for a long time. Soon s he will reach the Peak. At that time, she will really have to fight for her life."   
  
Briar sat quietly, besidde Sandry, looking out the window. Tris and the others had already left leaving him to his thoughts. Now that Sandry was close to death, he could really wonder what life would be without her. She was always there, giving a coin to a poor kid or helping a sick animal. Briar didn't really realise how much she meant to him. He didn't know that he loved her.   
  
Sandry was standing in a huge field. It was bright green, with flowers and plants and birds and animals. Briar would love it here, she thought wistfully, Where was Briar? There were many people, rushing around and making noise, spoiling the view. They were rushing even faster, as though put into fast forward. "Where am I?" she asked someone.   
"Peak Hill," they replied. "It's where all the victims of Ttruelberry Fever and those going to be victims stay,"   
What? She stared at him but he was gone. She wasn't dead. Was she? No! She couldn't be dead! She wanted a life, growing up, learning more about her magic! "NOOOOOO!!!"she screamed. Suddenly, everyone vanished. In their place a black cloud set in, leaving Sandry more afraid than she had ever been. A black hooded figure stalked towards her.   
"NO! LEAVE ME ALONE! BRIAR!!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!" she screamed.   
  
"DO YOU LOVE SANDRILENE FA TOREN?" A voice rumbled in his dreams. Why would a dream ask a question like that? Briar wondered.   
"Yes," he said. Suddenly, it was as though something lit in him. He sat up straightaway and headed for Sandry's room. Sandry was crying. Briar grabbed her.   
"Briar," she sobbed. It was okay. "Sandry's alive!" Briar bellowed at the top of hs lungs.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
Well, sorry to leave you hanging like that but I had to end the chapter somehow. Well, I think that was the longeest chapter I have ever written. Guiness record. Well, stay tuned for the last chapter.   
~~~Takarimon 


	7. The End

I don't own anything that even vaguely belongs to Tamora Pierce.   
The Collision   
Chapter 7~Epilogue   
Soon everyone was up and giving Sandry some food. "So what happened to the web?" she asked. "You finished it with the last strand of magic you had. That was why you almost died," Lark explained.   
"Are those killers caught?" she asked.   
"Yes,"Briar chimed in,"Numair and Alanna caught them and Copper Isles confessed. Their sending us money now."   
  
Later, Sandry and Briar had a moment to be alone.   
"When you were, uh almost dead," Briar stammered "I was thinking. Do you know how much you mean to us, Sandrilene Fa Toren?"   
Sandry smiled slyly. "Yeah?"   
"Well, uh, what I'm trying to say is, uh---"   
Briar broke off as Sandry leaned over and kissed him.   
"Was it that?" Sandry asked.   
"Yes, it was that," Briar stammered.   
Numari came running in at that moment. "Sandry! Briar! Do you know where Lark, Rosethorn and the others are?"   
"I think they're in.....the library," Sandry said."Why?"   
"Well, I think I've found the spell to bring you back to Emelan," He said.   
"Really?" Sandry and Briar said at the same time.   
"Yes, and I've got to show it to them," Numair went rushing off again.   
  
A few hours later, and everyone had eaten dinner and taken showers. Alanna, the Lioness of Tortall gave them each a tiny pin of her shield, the lioness rampant, Veralidaine gave them one of Kitten, the dragon's claws, King Jonathan III gave them a royal parchment saying they could come back and were welcome to the palace, last of all, Numair gave them a glass tube strung onto a chain.   
"In here there is some liquid. Whenever you want to come back, swallow it," Numair grinned. He held up his other hand. "I thought you would want this," He said, holding the red web of Truelberry essence. It was glittery. "Don't worry, I've spelled it to get rid of the bad stuff. This will also help you return if you wish," He handed it to Sandry.   
"Thank you, people of Tortall, us mages of Emelan are very grateful to you," Lark said. They all wished goodbye and each of the Emelan mages took a gulp of the potion and returned to Emelan in a blink.   
"It's good to be back home, isn't it?" Briar asked, holding her hand. Sandry smiled. Yes, it was very good to be home.   
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
Aaah. At last I have finished The Collision! Well, that was short but the last chapter, in my opinion was the best. You never know, I might start a new story to go with this one!   
I'd like to thank all of the people who gave reviews to my work. It was very encouraging and I encourage everyone who reads fics to review them, because they give the author an idea of what's good, what's bad, etc. Don't worry I haven't finish writing fics. I have a few more in my computer, back home in Bibilion, waiting to be uploaded. Email me, please, with ideas for anything new. My email is takarimon4ever@hotmail.com Thank you once again.   
~~~Takarimon :) 


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